1. Field of Invention
This application is in the field of sports apparatus and methods. Specifically, this application is in the field of soccer apparatus and related methods.
2. Background
Association football, colloquially “Soccer,” is a traditional sport played between two teams of ten or eleven members. Soccer is played by kicking a ball over a rectangular field (typically 115 yards by 74 yards) with rectangular soccer goals at the opposite ends of the field. Each team defends their goal while simultaneously trying to kick the ball through the opponent's goal. Goals are tallied and the team with the most goals after a time period is declared the winner.
Soccer has become a popular sport in the United States and internationally. However, the field and goals of soccer are not configured for the full enjoyment of many soccer players. One disadvantage of traditional soccer is that the field is extremely large so that small teams of less than five cannot readily confine the game to a particular region of the field. As a result, a soccer game between small teams on a normal field can become stale in that competitive player vs. player interactions can be avoided by one team moving the ball into remote areas of the field. Another disadvantage of traditional soccer is that play is unidirectional toward either end of the field (i.e., goals are made by moving the ball through the plane of a rectangular goal positioned at the end of the field). Practically, missed goals are usually either knocked out of bounds or captured by the goalie; either way, game play is halted and can become discontinuous after every goal attempt. Also, missed goal attempts can result in the need to retrieve the ball from behind the goal at great distances. Accordingly, there is a need for soccer systems or games (including apparatus and related methods) without the aforementioned disadvantages.
Many soccer systems or games exist for use by fewer than five people. For example, some have attempted to confine the game area (by physical border or rules) or otherwise provide rebounding mechanisms to a soccer goal (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,106 (issued Sep. 17, 1996), U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,228 (issued Sep. 13, 1994), U.S. Pub. Pat. App. Nos. 2011/0015002 (published Jul. 17, 2009), 2002/0022540 (published Feb. 21, 2002), 2011/0059819 (published Mar. 10, 2011), 2006/0089213 (published Apr. 27, 2006), 2010/0222162 (published Sep. 2, 2010), US 2008/0076606 (published Mar. 27, 2008), US 2011/0059815 (published Mar. 10, 2011), 2010/0022333 (published Jan. 28, 2008), 2009/0209372 (published Aug. 20, 2009), 2007/0142130 (published Jun. 21, 2007), and, 2007/0021241 (published Jan. 25, 2007); see also, e.g., U.S. Pub. App. Nos. 2009/0286630 (published Nov. 19, 2009) (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,912 (issued Aug. 17, 2010), 2008/0280702 (published Nov. 13, 2008), 2009/0264263 (published Oct. 22, 2009) for soccer rebound via leash) whereby soccer competitions between fewer individuals can remain competitive or without significant stoppages. For another example, some have provided portable or modified goals so that game play areas may be modified or shrunken (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,455 (issued Aug. 19, 2003), U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,798 (issued Feb. 23, 1999), U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,501 (issued Nov. 2, 2004) U.S. Pub. App. No. 2008/0032826 (published Feb. 7, 2008), 2006/0264274 (published Nov. 23, 2006), 2009/0312124 (published Dec. 17, 2009), 2011/0105253 (published May 5, 2011), US 2010/0062880 (published Mar. 11, 2011), 2009/0258735 (published Oct. 15, 2009), 2009/0176603 (published Jul. 9, 2009), and 2009/0149281 (published Jun. 11, 2009)) whereby game-play can be confined to smaller fields or restricted to shots on goal. Finally, some have conceived of ways to make soccer game-play multi-directional (U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,968 (issued Nov. 10, 2009), U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,863 (issued Sep. 10, 1996), 2002/0022540 (published Feb. 21, 2002), 2002/0142867 (published Oct. 3, 2002), 2009/0291782 (published Nov. 26, 2009), 2011/0028249 (published Feb. 3, 2011)) instead of playable in a single direction. Although useful for their intended purpose, these soccer systems or games are not entirely satisfactory for removing the previously mentioned disadvantages.
Many of the above disclosed and known soccer systems or games are for training purposes and involve repetitive or boring drills rather than the ongoing fun of competitive play. Certainly, playing soccer requires a wide variety of skills including the ability to control and direct the ball on any number of body surfaces other than hands and arms, but when isolated, such skills are not yet ready for use in competitive situations. Unlike the soccer ball of many of the disclosed soccer training apparatus and methods, a soccer ball in actual competition can arrive from a variety of directions, speeds, and spins, and a player may be moving in any number of directions wherein control and direction of ball movement must be taken into consideration. Also, in competitive soccer, players must make on-the-spot decisions (e.g., choosing to direct the ball to others, dribble past an opposing player, or shoot or head the ball at the goal) which cannot be taught by many of the disclosed soccer systems or games. Accordingly, the identified references fail to provide soccer systems or games for use by fewer than five people without the identified disadvantages. The identified prior art references further fail to disclose suitable methods for incorporating an apparatus disclosed by this specification into a coherent or competitive game to be played between teams.